Historic Sites

There's no better way to discover New York State's eye-opening history than at our numerous historical sites along the Path Through History.

Washington's Headquarters in Newburgh is the nation's first public historic site, and the general spent more time there than any other place during the Revolution. You can wander the battlefields of the Saratoga National Historic Park in Stillwater where the halting the British in 1777 is considered the turning point of the Revolutionary War, and one of the 15 greatest battles in world history.

Where does the women's rights movement have its roots? In Seneca Falls, and the Women's Rights National Historic Park there includes the Wesleyan Chapel where the First Women's Rights Convention was held. The Gay Liberation Monument in New York City's Greenwich Village is across from the Stonewall Inn where LGBT patrons stood up against police raids at what is seen as the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement.

Some historic sites, like Fort Ontario State Historic Site in Oswego, built by the British in 1755 and destroyed by the French in 1756, have a dual place in history: in addition to its life as a military garrison, it served as a Holocaust survival camp from 1944-46.

At the Adirondack Experience in Blue Mountain Lake, visitors can explore how people have lived, worked, traveled and played in the Adirondacks from the 19th century up to today. Its 65,000 square... more

From about the 1690s until 1794, both free and enslaved Africans were buried at the African Burial Ground in lower Manhattan. The site is, the first National Monument dedicated to Africans of early... more

Founded in 1791, the Albany Institute of History & Art is New York’s oldest museum. Its collections document the Hudson Valley as a crossroads of culture, influencing the art and history or the... more

The Albany Pine Bush represents of the best remaining examples of an inland pine barrens ecosystem in the world. This gently rolling sand plain is home to a unique diversity of rare animals and... more

Incorporated in 1841 and dedicated in 1844, Albany Rural Cemetery is a blend of generations of citizens originally interred in early burying grounds and a modern active burying ground. A President... more

First erected in 1858, the Aldrich Change Bridge is the oldest iron bridge in New York State and one of only two bridges known to survive from the first enlargement of the Erie Canal. There is ample... more

The Alice Austen House (also called Clear Comfort) was built in 1690 as a one-room Dutch farmhouse. One of America`s earliest and most prolific female photographers, Alice lived there until 1945,... more

Located in a historic Colonial Revival style building, the museum is a treasure trove of rich and varied collections, from Native American artifacts and medieval manuscripts to 18th and 19th century... more

The Wilder Homestead is the boyhood home of Almanzo Wilder and site of the book, Farmer Boy, written by his wife, Laura Ingalls Wilder. The site consists of the refurbished farmhouse, reconstructed... more

Clara Barton, established the first American Red Cross in Dansville, NY in 1881. This chapter house functions as both an office and a museum exploring the history of the American Red Cross and the... more

Ausable Chasm is the oldest natural attraction in the US, seen by more than 10 million visitors since it opened to the public in 1870. It is not hard to understand its historic popularity, with... more